Maersk Oil has installed the Middle East’s first nanoCT scanner with nanometre-scale resolution in Qatar.
The firm said it will further enhance its unique understanding of one of the world’s most complex offshore oilfields of its type.
The scanner will produce high resolution 3D images of the carbonate reservoir rocks in Qatar’s Al Shaheen field, allowing Maersk Oil Qatar ( MOQ ) scientists and engineers to better understand and predict reservoir properties.
Together with the Australian National University, MOQ has developed a nanoCT scanner that combines nanometer resolution with sample sizes that are needed to understand fluid flow in reservoir rocks.
Lewis Affleck, managing director, MOQ said: “Working closely with our partner Qatar Petroleum, Maersk Oil has gained a unique understanding of the Al Shaheen field.
“The development of a new nanoCT scanner is a world-class technology solution that further strengthens our applied research and technology development efforts and our commitment to safely and efficiently unlocking the Al Shaheen oilfield and delivering the greatest value to Qatar.”
Until now, commercially available technology has only been able to provide high resolution imaging for very small sample sizes.
Such small samples do not resemble actual rock samples close enough to mimic reservoir scale rock fabrics. The new nanoCT scanner has a resolution of one billionth of a metre (one nanometre) and can be applied to samples that are 40 times larger than normal, making studies of real-world problems possible.
To put this degree of resolution into context, atoms and molecules are measured in nanometres – a water molecule is actually less than one nanometre in size, whereas a human hair is about 100,000 nanometres in diameter.
